Thanksgiving Day

My Thanksgiving day in Africa began with a short jog around the school with a friend, and a cup of sweet black tea. Followed by a morning of classes and a power nap on my favorite bench in front of the children’s library. The focus of the day was on the evening and I found myself (and others voiced similar sentiments) throughout the day purposefully moderating what I ate so that I could surely be hungry for the American feast tonight. In the afternoon, after a good lunch conversation, some friends and I ventured to a professor’s house to use their stove to make our apple crisp dessert for the dinner (and enjoy the couches, family-style house, and even watched friends). I ate so many apple peelings, delightful. I am okay with being an apple peel glutton, it could be much worse. Hehehe. It reminded me of my younger days when mommy would use the apple-peeler-corer-slicer and I would eat a paper towel heaped with a long apple peel snake: that I would chomp and slurp. Good memories relived. Thanksgiving dinner was in the Vice Chancellor, Stephen Noll’s backyard. Essentially a gorgeous garden spacious enough to hold the plus eighty students, student guests, staff, and other ex-pats from the community. Their was music and a big tent, an abundance of chairs and even floor mats. There were other mzungu students (or Hungarians as Kimberly thought) from a program called Food for the Hungry (not Hungary).  I met a wonderful girl named katelyn, and it was good to talk through our different experiences, process aloud with a new face, and think through reengaging the US culture upon return. The feast was barbequed poultry (maybe turkey?) and roasted matooke bananas (an African meal would not be complete without matooke!). a table buffet of coleslaw salad, mashed potatoes, steamed pumpkin, green beans and corn, a dinner roll, and a traditional African fruit salad (watermelon, pineapple, banana, and some popo seeds). It was delightful to enjoy the party with so many people and activity and talk and relaxation all at once. Then was dessert… oh my goodness. Apple crisp, chocolate banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, cakes of sorts, frosting from cakes that had been devoured before me, and kettle corn. I kinda feel shaky now from the sugar overload. But it was worth it ALL!  And to top off the night there was a projector brought out for the showing of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving and Christmas films. It was humorous to watch everyone enjoy watching the cartoon so much… its tradition! I am so thankful for my family, the opportunities that I have had in my lifetime (especially Africa), for the friends I have made in my time here, and the place I am at in my life now. Thank you Jesus for life and hope in this crazy fallen world.